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The Army Amateur Radio System: 1925-1941

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The Army Amateur Radio System: 1925-1941 The Army Amateur Radio System: 1925-1941 A Monograph by Major Scott B. Hedberg United States Army School of Advanced Military Studies United States Army Command and General Staff College Fort Leavenworth, Kansas AY 2010 Approved for Public Release; Distribution is Unlimited SCHOOL OF ADVANCED MILITARY STUDIES MONOGRAPH APPROVAL Major Scott B. Hedberg Title of Monograph: The Army Amateur Radio System: 1925-1941 Approved by: __________________________________ Monograph Director Dan Fullerton, Ph.D. __________________________________ Monograph Reader Michael A. Hochwart, Col., German Army ___________________________________ Director, Stefan Banach, CL, IN School of Advanced Military Studies ___________________________________ Director, Robert F. Baumann, Ph.D. Graduate Degree Programs Disclaimer: Opinions, conclusions, and recommendations expressed or implied within are solely those of the author, and do not represent the views of the US Army School of Advanced Military Studies, the US Army Command and General Staff College, the United States Army, the Department of Defense, or any other US government agency. Cleared for public release: distribution unlimited. 1 Abstract THE ARMY AMATEUR RADIO SYSTEM: 1925-1941 by MAJOR Scott B. Hedberg, United States Army, 78 pages. This monograph conducts a historical study of the Army Amateur Radio System, the predecessor to the Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS). MARS is primarily known for its performance during the Vietnam conflict in providing morale communications for US service personnel. In 2009, the Department of Defense changed the MARS mission to support homeland security functions by using MARS to provide backup emergency communications to local, state, and federal authorities. Viewed as a new direction for MARS, the responsibility of providing emergency communications is the same mission that was ably conducted by the Army Amateur Radio System prior to the United States entry into World War II. By better understanding the history of the Army Amateur Radio System, MARS can better meet the challenges it faces in meeting its requirements. This study of the Army Amateur Radio System begins by first analyzing the context and requirements that drove its creation. Next, the organization's establishment, development and employment are analyzed, focusing on the Army Amateur Radio System’s ability to accomplish its mission. The study concludes with an examination of the suspension of the Army Amateur Radio System upon the United States' entry into World War II. The United States recognized radio as a critical mode of communication during World War I. The integration of radio to support Army operations generated a significant manpower and skill requirement that was not easily met. The Army Amateur Radio System was formed in 1925 to provide a pool of trained radio operators to augment the Signal Corps during mobilization in time of war and provide an extension of the Signal Corps' radio network to support civil authority with natural disaster relief efforts. While supporting military goals, the organization was composed of volunteer civilians who were accomplished radio amateurs. These civilians applied their specialty skills in radio communication while supporting the Signal Corps across the continental United States, the Philippines, Panama, and Hawaii. The organization ultimately experienced both success and failure. The Army Amateur Radio System succeeded in developing the proficiency of its radio operators as demonstrated by the support provided to local, state, and federal authorities during natural disaster relief efforts. However, on the eve of the United Sates' entry into World War II, the Army Amateur Radio System's membership was significantly underdeveloped in numbers to provide significant manpower to augment the Signal Corps' mobilization for war. 2 Table of Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 4 Radio and The US Army ................................................................................................................. 7 First Use of Radio ........................................................................................................................ 7 Recognition of the Shortage of Trained Operators ...................................................................... 8 World War I: An Increase Requirement for Army Radio Operators ........................................... 9 Lack of Trained Radio Operators .............................................................................................. 10 Radio Amateurs And World War I ................................................................................................ 11 Growing Importance of Radio in Support of Army Operations ................................................ 18 The War Department Radio Net ................................................................................................ 21 Decreased Manpower and Growing Requirements ................................................................... 25 The Creation of the Army Amateur ............................................................................................... 25 Army Amateur Development in the Corps Areas...................................................................... 29 1929 – The Revised Plan ........................................................................................................... 41 AARS: A Pool of Trained Operators for the Signal Corps? ...................................................... 45 Mobilization for War ................................................................................................................. 64 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 69 Bibliography .................................................................................................................................. 72 3 Introduction The Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) is primarily known for its contributions during the Vietnam conflict. With the Department of Defense's existing communication network consumed with operational message traffic, MARS provided the opportunity for US service personnel to send and receive short messages from home, called MARSgrams, or actually talk to family members back in the continental United States via a telephone-radio link called a phone patch. This communications service had two primary parts: the servicemen who operated the radio equipment in Vietnam and civilian volunteers who operated similar equipment stateside. At its peak of activity, MARS, with 47 stations operating throughout Vietnam, handled 42,000 messages per month during the spring of 1970. Enabling the connection between service personnel serving halfway around the world and loved ones back home had an immeasurable impact on morale.1 Based on the well known tradition of MARSgrams and phone patches, it would surprise many to know that in response to the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, MARS deployed a team of civilian radio operators to Port-au-Prince. This team was not employed to provide morale communications support to deployed US service personnel. Instead, the MARS mission was to facilitate emergency communication between military, medical, and non-governmental relief efforts.2 1 Paul A Scipione, MARS: Calling Back To The World From Vietnam, (Kalamazoo, MI: The Center For The Study Of The Vietnam War, 1994), 27. 2 University of Miami, “After the earthquake, UM’s new ham radio station is a lifeline in Haiti”, February 17, 2010, http://everitas.univmiami.net/2010/02/17/after-the-earthquake-um%E2%80%99s-new- ham-radio-station-is-a-lifeline-in-haiti/. 4 The change from the traditional MARS mission of providing morale communications to service personnel to supporting disaster relief was highlighted on December 23, 2009, when the organization known as MARS changed its name. Founded in 1925 as the Army Amateur Radio System (AARS), in 1948 Captain Robert L. Gabardy selected the use of the acronym MARS, the Roman god of war, as a fitting name for the post-World War II rebirth of the AARS as the Military Amateur Radio System.3 The organization was again renamed in 1953 to the Military Affiliate Radio System. In alignment with the 2009 Department of Defense guidance, the newly renamed Military Auxiliary Radio Service added to its traditional role of providing health and welfare communications to the US military. MARS was refocused to use its membership to provide emergency communications to local, state, and federal authorities. In this role, MARS was charged with supporting civil authorities at all levels with contingency radio communications reflecting a homeland security focus.4 The Department of Defense Instruction, Number 4650.02, which directed the organizational and name change, refocused the MARS mission. A military auxiliary is defined as “(a)n organized body of volunteers prepared to supplement the uniformed services or any designated civilian authorities by provision of specialized autonomous services when called upon or when situations warrant.”5 In approaching its mission as an auxiliary, MARS can examine the early history of the Army Amateur Radio System to recognize that homeland defense was one of two original missions for the AARS. 3 Robert L. Gabardy, telephonic interview by author, January 26, 2010. 4 The American Amateur Radio Relay League,
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